Lenox Ranch Cowboys: Complete Boxed Set - Books 1 - 5 Page 9

  I struggled against the man's hold, but there was no give. Fear had my mind seizing, unable to make thoughts coalesce. I felt off-kilter, not expecting these men to do something that was rash and dangerous.

  "Rose, stop," Chance commanded. I stilled as he bid, but my heart beat frantically.

  "Ooh, I like how biddable she is. Now, this is what's going to happen," Stills said. He was tall and whip thin, his eyes narrow and beady. "The lady is going to go off with Ivers while you and I have a little chat."

  Chance raised his hands slowly and remained remarkably calm considering. "Let her go. Whatever you have planned does not need to involve an innocent woman."

  "Innocent?" Stills grinned as he kept his gaze trained on Chance. "She doesn't seem so innocent to me after the way she screamed last night."

  Even with my panic overwhelming me, I felt my cheeks heat. They'd heard what Chance and I had done the night before! It made the acts that Chance had said were just between us seem dirty and tawdry.

  Ivers chuckled. "Mmm. Perhaps you can show me some of what you did, little lady. I know I'll enjoy it."

  Bile rose in the back of my throat at the way his hand moved up and down my arm. If it were Chance's hand upon me, it would be a caress. This man's hand felt obscene.

  "Why are you doing this?" Chance growled.

  "That's a big herd of cattle. With you dead and us to lead them, they'll be going to our spread."

  Dead? They were going to kill Chance and I could only imagine what they were going to do to me. They couldn't keep me alive; I was a witness to their crime. They were going to kill me, but as I looked to Chance for help, I knew what they planned to do beforehand would make me wish I were dead.

  Chance's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching.

  Ivers dragged me toward a horse. "Up."

  I shook my head. "No. I can't."

  "Either you get on that horse or I shoot Goodman right now."

  I glanced at Chance whose focus was solely on me. "But Chance—"

  He nodded and I swung up into the saddle, the gun too big of a risk to argue.

  Ivers positioned himself behind me and I held myself erect and as separate from him as possible. We rode north and I looked back the entire time until we went down a small hill and Chance disappeared from view. What had I been thinking? When Chance had said there were hidden dangers on a cattle drive, I'd been flippant, thinking little of his warning. Just as he'd said, I'd grown up trained to tell someone where I was going, even within the borders of the Lenox ranch. Sad stories from townsfolk over the years put value in this effort, but I'd never personally known anyone who'd been saved from harm from heeding it.

  I'd always been smart. I knew a rattlesnake hole when I saw one. I knew the clouds that threatened a bad storm. I knew how to put out a campfire to prevent it from spreading into a full-blown blaze. I knew to bring food and water in my saddlebag. I knew not to venture out during a blizzard. I knew it all, or I'd thought I did.

  Chance hadn't been stifling me when he left me with Miss Trudy and the girls. He'd been trying to protect me from the things I couldn't control, like the man sitting directly behind me. I'd been bullheaded and silly, flippant even with his concerns. Tears clogged my throat at my predicament, at the way I treated the man I loved. He'd been present for me for as long as I could remember; I'd loved him for as long as I could remember. As a child, he'd most certainly humored me in my silly antics designed to gain his attentions. Even now, the silly antics continued and I was still trying to gain his attention, but I'd had it all along. I appeared stupidly at a cattle drive. I wanted him to see me, be with me. Love me. From everything he'd said and done since we rescued me in Clayton, perhaps since I was small, he did love me.

  It wasn't ten seconds later that I heard the shot.

  "No!" I screamed and fought the man's hold, and then the world went black.

  CHANCE

  * * *

  I watched as Rose was taken away, with each step my anger flaring more and more, but the bastard Stills had his gun pointed at me. I could see her directly over the man's shoulder.

  "Why the hell do you want to take the cattle? It's a stupid tactic, Stills. It's not as if you can hide five hundred head."

  In order to save Rose, I needed to save myself, which meant knowing what the hell was going on. How desperate were these men? Stealing cattle, at least a number of this size, was downright stupid. I had to question their intelligence at attempting such a harebrained scheme. But stupid or not, Stills was the one with the gun and Ivers was the one with my wife. Was this their first theft or was it a routine for them? Was Reeves involved? Did he want the money and the cows as well?

  "They're not branded and I plan to sell them, break up the herd."

  That was a logical option, a more viable solution than keeping the animals together.

  "They'll know I'm missing and come searching," I added. The sun was bright, even early in the morning—it was going to be a hot day—and sweat trickled down my back.

  He shook his head slowly, a grin spreading. "I think the coyotes and other animals will find you first."

  "And Rose?"

  He shrugged. "They'll think she's dead as well, but she's of more use alive to us."

  His grin changed from devious to dangerous. There was no fucking way he'd touch one hair on Rose's head. If Ivers did anything to her, he was a dead man. Fuck that, he was dead no matter what.

  As I watched Rose and her captor disappear from view, I knew I had to act and act now. A cow moved nearby and lowed, causing Stills to turn his gaze for the briefest of moments. I took the opportunity to throw myself at him, grabbing his gun arm and lifting it into the air. I hit him full out, tackling him to the ground, which made the gun go off, the sound deafening in my ear. It missed me completely, but the animals stirred around us, frightened by the noise.

  Anger fueled my motions, and I twisted his wrist until I heard his bones snap. He cried out in pain as the gun fell from his useless hand, but I wasn't done. Sitting upright, I smashed his face with my fist. Blood burst from his nose.

  The cows began mooing loudly, their heavy footfall beginning to shake the ground. Looking up, I recognized the early signs of a stampede. There was no way to stop a group of animals if they became frightened. If one did, they all did, following the herd. We were on the ground, right in the middle of the cows. I punched Stills one last time and he slumped down, unconscious. Grabbing the gun from the ground, I rose to my feet, searching for a horse. Any horse. There!

  I dashed to it, skirting around wide-eyed, snorting cattle. Climbing onto the equally skittish horse, I tugged on the reins and dug my heels. The cattle began running then, the sound like thunder. It was possible for Stills to have escaped the stampede, but I could only hope for his demise. He was getting just what he deserved for even considering harming Rose. I went with the flow of the animals, following their eastern direction, yet working my way at an angle toward my wife.

  The animals could run for a mile without stopping, or fan out across the prairie in all directions. It was the worst consequence on a cattle drive, but I didn't fucking care. Rose was with Ivers and I needed to get to her. He hadn't held a gun when he'd taken her, but that didn't mean he didn't have one. I had to be cautious in my approach; the man's desperation could drive him to do anything.

  I slowed my horse, knowing they couldn't have gained too much distance. Now I had to follow and wait, every minute Rose was with that man torturous.

  14

  CHANCE

  * * *

  "You can't think I'm going to let you watch," Rose said, her voice full of anger.

  There had been no place to hide on the prairie with it wide open as it was. A horse and rider would have been too visible and Ivers could have panicked at seeing me and done something to Rose. After about an hour, when I recognized they were heading toward a creek, I had to assume to water the horse, I dismounted mine, left it, and followed surreptitiously up the creek toward them. The Cottonwood trees offered me some shelter, allowing me to slowly get near them, my footsteps muted by the sound of the water. I was thirty feet downstream and Rose was using all the sass. She was the most beautiful sight and the tight band around my chest lessened just seeing her whole and unharmed.

  "I can't just let you go off," Ivers countered. "Even to do your business."

  Rose put hands on her hips and narrowed her gaze. "Where do you think I'm going to go?" She waved her arms. "You're much faster and stronger than I am. It's not as if I can run away. The water's too shallow to jump in and swim."

  Using the man's ego was smart. She was painting herself a defenseless woman, when I knew that to be a falsehood. She was the least defenseless woman I knew.

  "I’ll stand behind this tree and talk the entire time. Will that suffice?"

  "Fine," the man replied, his voice dejected, as if she were wearing him down.

  Rose stomped off in the direction of a large tree, but went out of my view. She started talking, loudly, about how she intended to add lace edging to the bodice of one of her dresses, taking the time to describe the color of the thread she'd purchased, then contemplated aloud whether she should add the same lace to the end of the sleeves or whether it would dangle into her soup.

  I shook my head and grinned, knowing she was doing this just to annoy the bastard. I doubted Rose knew how to sew, let alone had ever looked at a piece of lace in her life. I'd never seen her wear anything beyond something serviceable and that suited her. She didn't need lace trim to look more appealing to me. In fact, I liked her best when she wasn't wearing anything at all.

  "Will you shut your trap?" Ivers called out.

  "You're the one who wanted me to keep talking." Rose came around from behind the tree. "If you don't wan
t me to talk about lace, then I can certainly share with you a delicious recipe for homemade apple cobbler. The secret is adding a touch of molasses to the crumb topping because it bakes up sweet yet melts in your mouth."

  "Lady, I don't care if it melts in your mouth or not. Here's what you're going to do, just sit on that rock and just keep quiet."

  "Oh, I can't sit on that rock. Do you know what kind of animals live beneath big rocks like that? Snakes! Even prairie dogs and you know they have sharp teeth. I refuse to be bitten by a wild animal while being held captive. When will this captivity end?"

  I slipped closer as Rose continued to blather on. If I hadn't known she was doing it intentionally, I would have considered her a vacuous ninny.

  "End? You're going to be with us for a while now. We've got plans for you."

  "Well, those plans had better be short lived. Oh dear," she said.

  "What now?" he grumbled.

  "We may have to stay here a bit, for I am beginning to feel a little queasy."

  "Queasy?" he repeated.

  "Only in the mornings and it comes on suddenly. I would hate to vomit on you while upon the nice horse."

  "Vomit? What the hell is wrong with you?"

  "I'm expecting, of course. The baby doesn't show very much, what with the full skirt and all, but surely you can tell."

  Her words had me freezing in my tracks. Baby? Impossible. Well, probably actually, but she wouldn't know yet. Hell, I would know. She was certainly not far along enough to show as she'd said. What was she getting at now?

  "Baby?" Ivers shouted. "Stills didn't say nothing about a baby getting mixed up in all of this."

  I moved closer so just a tree separated us.

  "It was a surprise to me as well. Do you know how babies are made? because I most certainly didn't before I married. If you're going to keep me around, I shouldn't be jostled and then of course marital relations are not allowed."

  "Marital relations? Your man is dead."

  "Dead? Good riddance. Clearly you do not have a woman of your own. You know nothing about babies, where they come from or why women marry. There were too many mouths to feed and my father handed me off to that tyrant of a man."

  "I heard you screaming your pleasure last night. Hell, the entire territory got wind of it."

  "He is—was—a lusty man, but I learned that if I pretended to enjoy it, he'd get done quicker."

  Done quicker? Done quicker? The woman was going to get a spanking as soon as I got my hands on her.

  "Actually, I'm right glad you got rid of him. Now I can travel with you and I won't have a man to worry about. It's not like you're going to touch a woman who's got a baby in her belly."

  Ivers grumbled something, then I heard him stomp towards the water. From my hidden spot, I saw him squat down and splash water on his face. Before I could do anything, Rose stooped and picked up a river rock and started chattering again. The man didn't even turn, clearly annoyed with her presence. She lifted the weapon and as he turned to see her approaching, she whacked him on the head. He fell face first into the shallow water with a big splash.

  I jumped out from behind the tree. "Rose!"

  She turned to me and a look of complete surprise crossed her face. "Chance! Oh my God, I heard the gunshot and thought you were dead!"

  I closed the distance between us and Rose flung her arms about my neck, her feet clearing ground. I held her to me securely, then kissed her. She was as eager as I, our lips meeting, our tongues tangling. I held the back of her head in place with one hand, the other around her waist holding her tightly. Knowing she was well and unharmed had all my energy pour into the kiss.

  "Did he hurt you, touch you in any way? He didn't—" Fuck, I didn't want her to suffer the horrible impact of having a man use her against her will. If he had, we'd deal with it together, but....

  "No," she said vehemently, shaking her head. "He hit me on the head, but I only have a slight headache. Otherwise, he didn't do a thing to me."

  I ran my hand over her scalp and felt a lump.

  "Are you sure that doesn't hurt?" She could have been addled from a blow to the head, but based on how she'd behaved, her smart actions, I doubted she was injured.

  She shook her head.

  Relieved, I said, "I think you were making him insane with your incessant chatter."

  She grinned. "Good. That was my intention. I remembered the way the girls talk with each other. No man could remain in the same room with the topics they discussed."

  "Very smart."

  She shook her head, but said nothing.

  I looked down at Ivers, and then pulled him from the water so he didn't drown. "Go see if he's got some rope in his saddle bag."

  Rose dashed off as I assessed the blow to his head. No blood, but he was out cold. I wanted to hit him again just for hurting Rose, but it wouldn't have been as fulfilling since he was not awake. Rose returned with a short coil and I readily tied him up.

  When Ivers moaned, she pulled back, her gaze raking over every inch of me. "I thought he shot you."

  I shook my head. "I'm unharmed."

  She looked left and right. "Then where is the other man? He could get us, and he has a gun!"

  I put a finger over her lips. "Stills won't be bothering us ever again." I left out his gruesome demise as I pulled the gun from the back of my pants.

  I angled my head toward Ivers. "We need to secure him better, then go get help."

  Rose's hand gripped my arm. "I want to stay with you."

  I grinned down at her. "You seemed to have done just fine on your own." She had. She'd used her brain to outsmart Ivers, staying unharmed and waiting for the right moment to save herself. "You didn't even need me."

  "Oh, Chance. I'm so sorry! I need you. I need you so much. I should have listened to you and not been so mule headed."

  "Mule headed?"

  She pursed her lips. "Mule headed and willful. I see now why you didn't want me to come. I will be more prudent in the future."

  I eyed her suspiciously.

  "Well, I'll try." She looked up at me through her lashes as her hands smoothed over my chest in a placating gesture that I enjoyed immensely.

  We rode all day, riding Chance's horse with the lead to Ivers' animal tied off so it followed, to return to the Goodman ranch as the sun slipped low in the sky. I was content to sit within the circle of Chance's arms, sideways across his lap. I could have easily ridden the other horse, but neither of us mentioned it. I would have been too far away and we both needed the physical connection. For me it was to validate that Chance was alive and whole yet I was so weary I nodded off on the journey. It was almost impossible not to; the steady beat of Chance’s heart beneath my ear was so reassuring and lulling.

  Surprised by our early return, Chappy and Walt came out of the bunkhouse to meet us. After hearing about our complications, they rode off to the Lenox ranch to gain Big Ed's assistance. The older man would ride into Clayton and get the sheriff. At the same time, Chappy and Walt would head west to retrieve Ivers from his bound state by the creek, wait with him, and then give him to the sheriff when he arrived. After that, they'd herd the cows back into a group and on the right path.

  I assumed Chance would leave as well, but when he walked me inside instead of saddling a fresh horse, I was surprised. "Aren't you going with them? If you want, I'll go stay with the girls."

  "Now you're compliant?" He wiped a hand over his face, making his whiskers bristle; he was probably as weary as me.

  "Temporarily," I countered.

  The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Then I best take advantage then."

  We went first to the washroom, where Chance stripped the dirty clothes from me, one layer at a time. He grumbled when he had to unwind the wrap that covered my breasts, but that was all. I was anxious to scrub the dirt and grime from the trip, but also Ivers' touch from my body. He hadn't done anything inappropriate, but I'd had to sit with him atop his horse and that had been more than enough contact for me.

  I took my turn first in the tub, Chance using a cloth lathered with soap to clean me, paying very close attention to specific, very pleasurable spots on my body before washing my hair. I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of his fingers massaging my scalp.